GOOD FRIDAY

Many years ago I was part of a ministerium that sponsored an ecumenical community Good Friday Service. In that particular year a number of my Pentecostal brethren formed the heart of the planning committee. They put their best creative efforts into that planning and then assigned responsibilities to the pastors of each participating church. When I saw the program I was a little confused. Good Friday is typically a somber and reflective service focusing on the Cross and Christ's death for our sins. This service was a very upbeat, lively service full of praise and joy.

Pentecostals are basically focused on Christ's victory and calling us to a life of victorious living. Unfortunately the service they produced was better suited to Easter morning, the celebration of the Resurrection. What we got was Easter on Good Friday. It was almost as if Christ hadn't died, or at least that this was just a blip on the radar of God's plan.

The result was Good News without the price for that Good News. It reminded me of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's famous expression "cheap grace," discipleship without a cost.

What makes Good Friday "good" is that emphasizes God's unconditional, unmerited love that pays the price for the sins of the world for all time. This was extremely costly, it cost the life of God's One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Without his death for our sin--the Good News is more like a mulligan. Our sin, oops, you're bad; but no sweat, take another swing. Maybe you'll get it right this time.

Christ's victory over the grave that we celebrate at Easter requires Christ to die n Good Friday. It requires the sober realization that the wages of sin is death and death always collects it due--until Christ pays the penalty.

You can't rush past Good Friday to get to Easter.